Polaris Software ties up with IFMR for PG course

Polaris Software Lab is partnering with the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) to launch a three-year post-graduate diploma programme in financial technology.

The course is being targeted at working professionals in the banking and financial industry, and the IT industry. The three-year programme will cost Rs 50,000 for each of the seven modules on offer.

It will be offered through a combination of distance education, web-based tutoring, online content and contact sessions on the IFMR campus.

Arun Jain, chairman and managing director of Polaris highlighted the dearth of such professionals in the IT industry, who have both industry expertise and IT skills.

This course, he expects will fill the gap for IT professionals who have no industry specific knowledge and banking professionals who do not have knowledge of IT.

For banking professionals, the course will be helpful to learn about the fundamentals of IT, implementation of IT systems in banks and financial services.

An IT professional would gain from the contents of the course that stresses on basic aspects of the financial services and banking space, banking operations, capital markets and implementing IT solutions in banks and financial institutions.

It also delves on project management of IT in banks and financial institutions

"The need for such a programme is obvious as technology is becoming more and more important for banking," said Nachiket Mor, executive director, ICICI Bank.

The three-year programme will offer modules in banking and finance topics, system architecture, industry trends and practices, the use of IT in operations, project and change management, and special topics.

Working professionals who have prior knowledge of parts of the course's modules will be eligible to exempt themselves from those modules or parts of the module.

IFMR expects 40-50 students in the first intake, the first batch of which is expected to start in July or August, 2005.